Yesterday: it has been steadily warming up, so I walked around the garden a bit to see if anything is happening yet. No crocus, which is sort of unusual, the “tête-à-tête” daffodils have little spears sprouting, and the perennials are starting to green up. I need to get out into the former front garden and see if I can get an early start on weeding it out.
I always think of work when I am out in the garden, it takes discipline to separate myself from that part of gardening, and just enter a frame of mind that observes and enjoys. Usually an early summer day with blue skies can bring this mood on… when it feels too good to do anything else than just to sit in the garden and look up through the trees. But that time still feels a long way off.
I had scoped out many seed aisles and finally broke down and ordered from a seed source new to me. I had to stop looking for mignonette, it was becoming an obsession that blockaded all thoughts of other seed purchases. So I found a source and ordered. This year I am trying out Swallowtail Garden Seeds. Haven’t received the order yet, but will report on my experience as the season rolls along.
March is a good time to work on perennials, so I need to harden off the indoor hellebores and get them into the ground. that bed will require a lot of work, but by lifting the hostas there and re-situating some of them under a lilac I might get two jobs accomplished.
One last observation: this is the time when the contorted filberts can be best appreciated, their twisting branch forms accentuated in the still bleak landscape of earliest spring.
Tags: seeds
You’re lucky to be able to get in the garden this early. It’s still awful wet here and will be for a good while yet. I’ve not found a way to hover else I’d have been pullin weeds today.
I’ve just clicked through and looked at the mignonette.
Looks a really nice plant, tricky to sow mind (av. 3,700 seeds).
Rob
Just wanted to mention that I really like the new background!
We’ve had warming weather too…can’t wait for dh to start planting! :)
Hello,
yesterday it was raining the whole day, melting snow, slowly exposing garden beds and grass, covered with molds.
I walked around the garden, like you did and took pictures of the damaged plants and bushes.
Right now a desolate place, very soon showing signs of spring flowers.
Love your website and the very useful suggestions!
Thank you for joining my bloglist,
Gisela
Wasn’t it a glorious couple of days here? I was out cleaning, prepping beds, just enjoying working outside in the warm air.
I did not know anyone started hellebores from seed–interesting!
It has been super nice- I’ve not been in the garden much yet, just inspecting, and now it is cold again. But I will likely venture out now that I have time. I wish I could just garden all the time and not have to do any of those other obligations; sometimes I think that anyway.
I don’t know how easy hellebores are to grow from seed, but I’ve grown mignonette many times before and it was pretty easy. I always sow in situ , and read that they don’t like transplanting- so maybe that is where the tricky part could come in. No matter how pretty the pictures look, it has always been a rather receding, homely flower- it is the fragrance that makes it worthwhile.
Thanks Teresa! I wasn’t sure if ppl liked it, but now I know at least one is pleased:)
Thank you for your comments, Gisela. The garden always seems to compensate no matter how bedraggled it looks right after winter. Things are sooo slow to appear this year, tho.